When band members of Pakistani band Khudgharz performed Sayeed Quadri’s famous song ‘Ya Ali’, originally sung by Zubeen Garg, at their concert in Karachi, the audience sang along to every word with a disarming honesty.

Performed as an ode to the 52-year-old Assamese musician who died in September in Singapore, the band sang with affection and reverence, reminding us that our melodies have never needed visas to meet each other. The crowd in Karachi missed one of their favourite singers. They sang along in mourning, tipping their hats to the artiste they loved. It was a beautiful, graceful moment, full of warmth and respect amid the tiring and uncouth circus of hostile politics and cricketing stand-offs.

Were Zubeen Garg alive, he would likely have approved of Khudgharz’s gesture — perhaps

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